Jim and Edrianna Stilwell's story of living in the North Carolina mountains enjoying their "green" lifestyle

Friday, September 16, 2011

TO TOP IT OFF!

To top it off... the roof

On August 9th Josh arrived to inspect our roof materials - to make sure we had what he needed to get the job done. On August 10th Tim and Paul arrived to install our metal roof. This was happening between the installation of the radiant floor heat in the basement and pouring the concrete slab. It was a very busy week. Tim and Paul started on the back side of the house so we couldn't see what was happening. Jim and I climbed up to take photos after the first panel was installed.

Great view from the roof.

It was a bit scary climbing up on the roof to take a photo because a storm was rolling in. Needless to say that the roofers do not work during storms and expecially if it is lightening.

The roof is covered with Surfoot, Titanium UDL 30. This paper is pretty interesting. It has small ridges in it to keep you a bit more stable as you are walking across the paper, but if the paper is wet - watch out. You will be on your butt and maybe the ground in a blink if you slip. Josh was recovering from falling off a roof recently plus he had another job he was working on so we saw Tim and Paul more frequently.

A quick pause here to introduce you to another person - Tom Watson.

He is our Customer Advocate with Deltec. After the house was delivered our project was turned over to Tom in case we needed assistance or had questions.

Well, we needed him.

Fast forward to August 22nd. The roof is looking good. Josh, Tim and Paul are close to finishing up the panel sections and are ready for the cupola and ridge shingles.

After plowing through the delivery of roof materials and not finding the ridge shingles we contacted Tom. The roof company sent us single metal strips for the ridges but no instructions on how to install them. We were told instructions came as an adendum. Additionally, the roofers were down to their last box of metal shingles and knew they would run out before they were finished. It was calculated by Deltec that we would need 20 boxes of shingles. We only received 17 boxes from the roof manufacturer. We asked for 2 more boxes to finish the job and they requested photos of our waste to make sure the roofers were being as conservative as possible when they were cutting the metal.

We aren't going to tell you the name of the supplier because this may be an isolated incident and we don't want to discourage anyone from using metal. We picked a metal roof because:

It has a 40 year warranty

It reflects heat so it reduces your energy costs up to 20%

The shingles are made of 95% recycled aluminum

The waste is recyclable

It resists water, rot, and insects

It won't fade

More durable in high winds

Tom sent the photos and assured the company that Josh and his crew were being as conservative as possible. The company sent the extra shingles as well as the ridge shingles. We returned all the metal materials we didn't use to the company when Josh and his crew were done and we recycled the scrap at Biltmore Iron & Metal Co. www.biltmoreiron.com

Jim and Josh discuss the cupola

(Decorative and sometimes functional cap at the peak of the roof. Sometimes used for venting but our house is sealed so it is truly decorative)

Jim decided to build the cupola himself and upgrade the design. The materials provided by Deltec included a plywood fascia board. The rest of the house is Hardie plank so it made sense to do the cupola fascia out of Hardie plank as well. In addition, the construction did not call for a drip strip which prevents water from running along the fascia when it rains and helps prevent water damage. Jim worked that into the design and Josh installed it before he put on the final shingles.